Singing the Praises of Sikhs in Beards and Turbans

For centuries the traditional look for men of the Sikh faith—the turban, the beard—has been pretty much recognizable in an instant.

That simple fact sent two photographers on a search for Sikhs young and old who have adapted the religion’s rules to their own personal style. The result is “The Singh Project,” a series of portraits like that of Daljit Singh Plahe, a watchmaker in a sable-shaped beard and puffy, paisley necktie, looking quizzically into the camera.

Amit and Naroop

“The most common visual identifiers of the Sikh men” often become unique “identifiers of their personalities,” said Naroop Singh Jhooti, one of the British-Indian photographers behind the portraits. Last year he and Amit Amin, another British-Indian photographer, came up with the idea to shoot 35 portraits of Sikh men from many walks of life-- temple volunteers, retired businessmen, students, a magician, a boxer, a polo player--to document their individual beard-and-turban styles.

Consider the beard. These days “it’s cool” to sport facial hair, notes Mr. Jhooti. Perhaps that beard is a hipster fashion statement, or an “exam beard” that some students sprout during college test season, only to shave away later. Or maybe it’s a signifier of midlife crisis--or unemployment.

But for Sikhs, the beard doesn’t come and go with the times. It is a given: Beards have been a religious requirement for centuries. The portraits make the point, Mr. Jhooti said, that “what’s trendy now has been done in style for years.”

The two photographers say they conducted a months-long “Singh hunt” in search of promising subjects young and old. (Singh being, of course, a familiar Sikh surname.) The oldest subject they found is Balbir Singh, in his late 80s, spotted during a visit to a gurudwara, or a Sikh temple, in Southall.

Mr. Singh became one of the first men to walk into their photo studio, in Acton in West London. Mr. Jhooti said he was under the impression the meeting was set up to shoot passport-sized photographs of him. Perhaps that explains his expression in the resulting portrait.

Amit and Naroop

As they moved from older subjects to younger ones, Mr. Jhooti said, things got tougher. Not only were the children more fidgety and tougher to photograph, but it was a challenge to find a child who would look in sync with the other subjects. After all, “the frame would be missing a full-grown beard and a typical turban.”

The pair shot 10 kids before settling on five-year-old Gurjeevan Singh Plahe, below, and leaving the others out of the final portrait collection. His turban style is unusual for a Sikh child: Youngsters often wear only the “patka,” a thin, flexible fabric that covers a knot of hair on top of the head.

Amit and Naroop

The young Gurjeevan, said Mr. Jhooti, is the “son of a friend’s friend.” Connections among friends led them to several of their subjects, including Magic Singh, below, a London-based magician.

Amit and Naroop

While both he and Amin are Sikh, they don’t themselves wear beards but rather only a faint stubble. (Both have shaved heads, as well.) Born and raised in the U.K., they said working on the project reinforced their belief to their own religious roots. Britain has the largest Sikh community outside of India. According to the U.K. government’s 2011 census, more than 423,000 Sikhs live in England and Wales.

In some places around the world, Sikhism has been famously, and occasionally tragically, misunderstood. “Turban Myths,” a study focusing on American Sikhs last year, found that 49% of participants wrongly thought Sikhism is a form of Islam. Mr. Jhooti said that while this kind of confusion “wasn’t the seed of the project,” the two photographers felt the images might well end up reducing some public confusion.

Below, Chaz Singh Fliy, a creative director, wears a small accessory attached to his turban.

Amit and Naroop

The photographers have successfully raised more than $11,000 via the fundraising site Kickstarter, an amount they estimate needing to make prints of the photographs and to stage an exhibition in September in London. The funding will also pay for “plenty of tea and samosa at the opening,” Mr. Jhooti said.